Kevin Bizier not facing Devon Alexander on May 18

On Wednesday, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) issued a statement about Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM)-promoted Kevin Bizier being appointed as the new mandatory challenger to IBF world welterweight champion Devon Alexander.

Alexander was scheduled to face his mandatory challenger, Kell Brook, of England, May 18 in Atlantic City on Showtime, but Brook was injured during training and had to withdraw. To ensure Bizier’s presence in Atlantic City to fight Alexander, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaeffer also contacted the president of GYM, Yvon Michel, offering a very attractive proposition.

All members of Team Bizier – Kevin, Michel, Marc Ramsay, and Remi Bizier — met yesterday to analyze the entire situation.The unanimous conclusion of this meeting was to refuse the IBF and Golden Boy’s proposal. The current circumstances do not allow Kevin Bizier sufficient training and preparation required to participate in a fight of this magnitude against the established IBF champion. A letter was also sent this morning to the Chairman of the IBF Championships Committee, Mr. Lindsey Tucker, for this purpose.

“We believe that Kevin Bizier has the talent to become World welterweight champion this year,” Michel said.

“We thank the IBF and Golden Boy for the opportunity offered but, unfortunately, we had to decline because Kevin would not have been able to offer a performance, given the current context, at the height of his talent. This is only a postponement.”

Meanwhile, Bizier is currently ranked No. 3 by the IBF and No. 6 by the World Boxing Association (WBA). He is still developing and expected to rise even higher in world rankings. His next fight will take place May 25, as planned, on the Pascal vs. Bute super event in Montreal.